City Manager Craig Owens will present the 2023 City Manager’s Recommended Budget at the upcoming Lawrence City Commission meeting on Tuesday, July 12. The meeting begins at 5:45 p.m. and will be held in the City Commission Room at City Hall, 6 East 6th Street. (A joint City and County work session will be held between 5:00 and 5:45 p.m. prior to the regular City Commission meeting.) Participants can choose to attend virtually or in-person.
The budget memo and presentation can be viewed online HERE.
This is the second budget that operationalizes the City’s strategic plan, and it continues to focus on aligning resources with the strategic priorities identified by our community. Those priorities are reflected in our outcomes (unmistakable identity; strong, welcoming neighborhoods; safe and secure; prosperity and economic security; and connected city) and commitments (community engagement, efficient and effective processes, equity and inclusion, sound fiscal stewardship, engaged and empowered teams, and environmental sustainability).
The City Manager’s 2023 recommended budget has four areas of continued priority:
- Housing Initiatives: As the City’s Housing Initiatives Division works toward addressing issues of homelessness and affordable housing, the City recommends focusing resources on three specific outcomes: Homeless response and services/outreach, emergency sheltering, and support for housing availability and solutions.
- Infrastructure: The City is now on a disciplined schedule of investment in infrastructure maintenance and improvement to assure system utility, reliability and lowest cost of ownership for the community. The Recommended Capital Improvement Plan for 2023-2027 includes $402.5 million of capital investment over the next five years.
- Engaged and Empowered Teams: The 2023 recommended budget completes the two-year investment plan in employee compensation that began with the 2022 budget. In total, the 2023 recommended budget includes $5 million for increased employee compensation.
- Economic Development and a Stronger Tax Base: The recommended budget includes a 20% increase in resources for economic development, which will enable progress toward creating a stronger tax base.
Additionally, the 2023 Recommended Budget includes some program reductions in order to address a deficit identified in the 2022 budget of nearly $11 million. These reductions are in areas that have the lowest level of alignment with the strategic plan. Further information on the recommended program reductions is included in the budget memo and presentation HERE.
The Lawrence community is invited and encouraged to provide feedback on the 2023 Recommended Budget. There will be opportunities for public engagement for this proposed budget, and we look forward to incorporating feedback from our community. Community members can visit lawrenceks.org/listens/surveys to share their thoughts via the online Lawrence Listens platform.
The 2023 budget calendar is here and the public budget hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 23, in the City Commission Room at City Hall.
Contact: Porter Arneill, Director of Communications and Creative Resources, parneill@lawrenceks.org